BJP names candidates for Odisha's 2 LS, 9 Assembly seats

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday released its list of candidates for two Lok Sabha and nine Assembly seats in Odisha.

Kharavela Swain, who rejoined the party on Monday, will contest from the Kandhamal Lok Sabha seat, while Prakash Mishra will fight from the Cuttack parliamentary constituency.

Swain, president of the Utkal Bharat, formally joined the BJP here on Monday. Swain was elected to the Lok Sabha thrice as a BJP member.

"Inspired by the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, I rejoined the BJP to dethrone the corrupt and inefficient BJD government in Odisha. I will contest from Kandhamal Lok Sabha seat," said Swain.

Former Odisha DGP and former CRPF DGP, Prakash Mishra, had joined the BJP on Sunday.

Among the nine Assembly seats declared on Monday, Rishabh Nanda, son of BJD's Rajya Sabha member Prashant Nanda, will fight from the Begunia assembly segment on a BJP ticket. Rishabh has recently joined the BJP.

The saffron party has, so far, declared candidates for 17 Lok Sabha seats and 130 Assembly segments.

Odisha, which will have Lok Sabha and Assembly polls simultaneously in four phases, has 21 seats and 147 seats, respectively, in both these Houses.